Wednesday, July 31, 2013

One of the sadder side effects of the American culinary renaissance
we’ve enjoyed over the last thirty or forty years, has been the chronic
under-cooking of green vegetables. Sure, there was a time when we cooked
everything too long, but now, if it’s not bright green and still crispy, it’s
considered ruined.

That’s why every once and a while you have to enjoy
something like these slow-cooked, southern-style green beans. These beans are
cooked forever in a bacon-spiked, aromatic broth, and when they’re finally
done, you’re almost shocked at how good they are. It seems so wrong, yet tastes so right.

I think two hours is perfect, but if your beans are
fatter/thinner, you’ll have to adjust the time. What you’re looking for is
something that literally melts in your mouth. Vibrant, quickly blanched green beans are many things, but “melt in your mouth” isn’t one of
them. I hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

39 comments:

This will be a nice change up from the regular beans from the garden. I have some pole beans and all the other ingredients (I love red pepper so may add for flavor and color). So, to me, that's a sign that I gotta' try um'. Will letcha' know! Tks chef!

I know these will be delicious! This is the way my Grandmother and Mom made them. Grandma lived on a farm in Illinois all her life and always had a lot of green beans to can and cook up. The only difference was the tomato was missing. I love a little tomato in almost anything, so can't wait to give this a try! Thanks.

Finally, a chef publicly exposes the myth about green beans! My family has southern roots, and we've always cooked our green beans until they are melt in your mouth tender, and we traditionally cook the beans with neck bones instead of bacon.

I've never added a tomato base to mine. Instead of that, I add cubed or quartered potatoes when the beans are about done and a little thyme. Delicious! I will have to try it with the tomato.

I love this demo. I was laughing all my viewing time, because this type of cooking was done by my mom when we were growing up in a city abundant with this type of beans... aptly called "Baguio" beans, it is where they grow it in the Philippines. My mom was not a "southerner", actually she was from the North of the Phil., but, I wonder where she learned how to cook this... THX again Chef John for bringing back memories... I will cook this today.. I know the ingredients by heart !!!

Been watching your videos for years now and always wandered why you didn't cook your green beans longer with some tomato since its one of the best recipes out there!! Skip the bacon and add some parsley and you have one of the best traditional Greek dishes. :)

P.s. You can easily substitute for peas or gumbo, works just as great!

My Grandma used to plant a bean called a Kentucky Half Runner. You had to string them. Man they were good. We always cooked the beans long. She didn't use garlic as I think people from the South back then didn't know what to do with it. No one used it. Seasoning was salt and pepper. Thing is...if you got the salt and pepper just right...it was going to taste good. No tomato sauce either. She add new potatoes about the last half hour. She had a magic skillet she cooked cornbread in. Man I miss her.

I'll has 'ya knows 'dat my finicky lady-friend will be most delighted to try these green beans. And I'll also has 'ya knows 'dat she be 'da first to exclaim, "Pork-fat RULES Baby!" while gulpin' down yet another glass of chardonnay.

This was my attempt at them. You were right, they were delicious! By the way, my dad came into the kitchen twice to tell me that I was overcooking my green beans. Apparently he needs to watch your videos.

A year of two ago I found a cooking vid by a southern woman doing green beans like this for 45 minutes in a pressure cooker. I thought she was nuts.

Now I see that perhaps she was not. I've given up starch and as such am always on the lookout for more ways to cook vegetables that might provide a similar comfort that potatoes used to (one can only eat so much cauliflower.) This is looking promising, to the point that I'm rather sorry I didn't plant green beans this year.

And I might just try the pressure cooker. Looks like the cooking time is about as precise as making a pot roast, in other words...not.

Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I grew up having these beans every summer when we visited my Grandmom in Georgia. Needless to say, I don't run into this item in LA restaurants. And I've never been able to get it right at home. I wasn't doing what you did in your recipe. I can't wait to try it!

Chef John, I think you may be on to something. I've always hated that weird squeaky feeling that undercooked green beans make on your teeth. I've also wondered why the only green beans I've ever liked were the soft, extra-garlicky ones they serve at my work cafeteria. It's the level of cooked-ness. I'm going to try these.

This humble dish turned out to be quite fantastic! I made one modification since I wanted this as a main rather than a side dish: I added a couple of russet potatoes cut into large chunks to it, 40 or so minutes before the end of cooking time. This also thickened up the sauce a tiny bit and I was rather pleased.

The second time I made it, I used it as a side with your macaroni and cheese. For some reason I neither had tomato sauce, puree nor paste available. So I used ketchup instead which turned out to be surprisingly good. It was a tad too sweet but otherwise very rich. I reckon half tomato sauce, half tomato ketchup might just be perfect.

Hi Chef, I've never cooked with fresh green beans before. I remember as a kid, my mom and g-ma would trim the ends and remove a string? Is that right? That was 50 years ago. Do you still have to do that? I have a very important family dinner coming up, and this would be a perfect side... if I get it right. Thanks Chef John!

I'm going to make beans for Thanksgiving; this recipe reminds me of my grandmother and mother. I'm cooking 4 lbs and adding potatoes but don't have pots that large. Can I cook beans until the tender stage, remove from pot add potatoes (partially cooked -flavored w/crab boil)? Thank you for such a great recipeSenorita Bonita

I made two versions of this for Thanksgiving - one with the bacon, which was phenomenal and ended with an empty pot, and one without bacon/ with olive oil, substituting ketchup for tomato sauce.the vegetarian one was terrific, but bacon trumps olive oil every time. Thanks for this! Now my absolute favorite way to cook green beans.

I'm always curious about a new green bean recipe, and yours sounds good, but I wind up sticking to my Tenneseean great-grandmother's recipe. She was born in 1867 and raised my mom, born in 1917. I didn't learn from great-grandmother, but mom was a good teacher...

She turned her beans in hot bacon fat until they turned bright green, then barely covered them with boiling water. Halved or quartered onions were added, as well as bacon, smoked neck bones or my favorite...ham hocks. Salt and pepper, and maybe some chicken stock, potatoes near the end, but never tomato or garlic.

Of course, cornbread baked in the black skillet with butter is the only accompaniment...YUMM!

No matter how many are prepared, they always disappear the first or second day!

Mmmm, love these and want to eat them every day. I left out the bacon to make them vegetarian and used a tomato instead of the tomato paste. They remind me of the glory green beans that come in a can. Nice to know I can make them myself from now on!